Archives of Raymond Abrahams

Collection description

Scope and content:: This fonds mostly contains correspondence and notes of Raymond Abrahams concerning legislation on ritual slaughter (shehitah). (see boxes 118 and 119)

Administrative/biographical history:: Raymond Abrahams (1906-1992) was born in Liège. He was active in various Jewish youth movements in Liège and Brussels in his youth, and in 1933 he joined the Comité d’Aide et d’Assistance aux Victimes de l’Antisémitisme en Allemagne. He obtained a PhD in law from the ULB in 1929 and an economics degree. He made a brilliant career as a lawyer, notably as a lawyer at the Cour d’Appel in Brussels. After the war, he was one of the founders of the Central d’Œuvres sociales juives, he was president of the B’nai B’rith of Brussels, he supported the creation of the Institut Martin Buber and he was active as administrator of the Communauté Israélite de Bruxelles. He also gave legal advice to the Consistory with regard to ritual slaughter (shehitah). R. Abrahams was a remarkable figure of the organised Jewish community, pursuing an impressive career at the same time. He died in Brussels in 1992. (J.-P. Schreiber, "Abrahams, Raymond", in J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2002, pp. 23-24.)

Subject terms:: Legal matters; Professions; Professions--Lawyers; Ritual slaughter

Access, restrictions:: Access requires authorisation of the archivist of the Museum.

Finding aids:: There is a preliminary inventory of the Jewish Museum of Belgium.